EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 659 



three to four tons close in per day, while two to three tons is good work 

 out a couple of miles. A man with team is paid $1.35 a net ton for close 

 work and $1.50 for a mile or two out. 



The snapped corn is scooped from the wagons into both sides of the 

 long open husking shed and twenty or thirty wagons unloading and 

 waiting at one time is a common sight. The husking is mostly done by 

 women and children, who receive three cents a bushel for the work. An 

 extra good husker can husk fifty bushels a day, but most of them run 

 around twenty-five to forty. The husked corn is dumped into a long 

 conveyor, which is simply a long open box with an endless belt in the 

 bottom and running the full Jength of the shed. Another carrier takes 

 the corn from the conveyor to the cutting machines on the third fioor of 

 the factory. Along this conveyor are stationed ten to fourteen sorters, 

 depending on the quality of the corn coming in, whose duty it is to pick 

 out any ears not strictly choice, and very little else gets past the sharp 

 eyes and nimble fingers of these sorters. Some factories are not so 

 particular about sorting and use only a few hands at the conveyor, hence 

 their output is nearly all one grade. After the choicest corn has been 

 "run up," the balance is again dumped on the conveyor and resorted. 

 The ears unfit for canning are thrown out into a refuse pile which is 

 sold back to the growers at $1.00 a load and makes a cheap feed for 

 stock. All the corn that is a little too green or too hard or otherwise 

 not suitable for the choicest grade is then run up into "seconds" and 

 sold at a lower price than the choicest "firsts." These "seconds" are 

 handled chiefly by grocers whose trade demands cheap goods and also to 

 feature as "bargains" for the benefit of the well-meaning but sometimes 

 short-sighted bargain hunter. Take it from us, dear reader, the best 

 is the cheapest in canned goods; don't buy any "bargains" in cheap 

 foodstuffs of any kind unless you absolutely know you are getting a 

 high-grade article. 



The husks are raked into another conveyor and carried out to the 

 husk pile. Patrons are permitted to haul away all the husks they wish 

 free of charge and the balance is stacked into a huge pile. This pile 

 heats and silos nicely, and except for a foot or so spoiling on the outside, 

 it comes out green and sweet ensilage in the winter and sells readily to 

 dairymen at $1.00 a load. 



The husked corn as it is carried up to the cutting machines is washed 

 by a spray of water and then dumped into chutes over the cutters. A 

 girl at each side of the machines, which are fitted with a double set of 

 knives, feeds the corn into the knives. These knives are set to cut the 

 kernel about through the middle and the ear is then forced between 

 scrapers that scrape out the pulp and leave the indigestible hull on the 

 cob. The trade demands a kernel that is visible but small, not too green 

 and not overripe. The cobs are carried out to the cob dump and hauled 

 off in manure spreaders and scattered on the fields for fertilizers, and 

 some of the patrons haul them back for feeding purposes. 



After leaving the cutting machines the work of canning is nearly 

 automatic. The cut corn drops through a chute to the second floor and 

 passes through the "silker," a machine that takes out the silks and tiny 

 strips of husks and also strains out the tips of ears, pieces of cob, etc. 



